A first II

Kaji strides through the forest, unease twisting in his gut. He halts as soon as he spots a change ahead—trees in the distance swallowed one by one by a looming shadow.

He lifts his head to glance at the source, and his fears take shape. The other god hovers above their island. Briefly before the shadow reaches him, it stops. Then, the creature howls again with a sound that rattles Kaji to his bones. He drops to his knees.

Before he can recover, several rope ladders spill down from above. He scrambles behind a bush as strangers descend one by one.

Their clothes resemble his people's in their lightness, leaving the abdomen, arms, and legs exposed. But there are details—strange ones—that Kaji has never seen before. Their fabric is a deep blue, adorned with an unfamiliar symbol on the back and chest. At their waists, they carry grey sticks, sheathed like knives.

As people continue going down the ladders, someone drops from the sky, crashing into the ground with a small explosion of dirt. Kaji could swear he saw fire shooting from their feet as they descended.

What this figure is wearing seems utterly unfamiliar. The armor appears to be made of metal, covering the entire body, with a faint bluish light emitting from its crevices. It's nothing like their companions, who don't even carry shields. Such armor should be impossible to wear in the summer heat.

At their waist, they carry a stick similar to their allies'—though longer and adorned with additional symbols. But the helmet is the strangest part: no openings for the eyes or mouth, just a solid black surface covering the face. How can this person breathe?

Not long after, a second figure in the same armor drops down. Upon landing, they collapse to their knees. The first armored stranger approaches them.

"Miss Hoshina! You shouldn't jump like that, it's dangerous!" A man's voice, though his speech sounds odd, with words that don't quite match Kaji's vocabulary.

"If you can do it, then so can I," replies the second figure—a woman. The two of them glance back as the last few strangers descend. "Looks like everyone's here," she says, turning to the man. "Shall we go?"

The ladders begin retracting, rising just out of reach. The man nods and turns to face his unarmored companions.

"Remember, everyone—anything that isn't a magic item goes to whoever touches it first. So don't fight over scraps." The fuck's a magic item? "We're only hitting the first settlement today. In later battles, we'll be more aggressive. And please—no prisoners. We've got enough servants as it is. Let's move, soldiers!"

They all begin to march forward. This is far worse than anything Kaji had imagined. He rises carefully, using their footsteps to mask his own as he slips away, moving as quietly as possible while staying hidden. Once he's gained enough distance, he breaks into a sprint. Within minutes, the city comes into view.

As soon as he arrives—before he can even catch his breath—Kaji begins to shout.

"We're under attack! Everyone run!"

"What do you mean, young man?" asks a woman.

"People from another island are invading us!"

"The heck's this kid going on about?"

"Has he been eating shrooms?" says another man. "The islands never come that close to each other."

"Perhaps the boy's telling the truth," an elder adds. "Maybe that's the noise we've been hearing all day."

"Don't let him fool you!" Three guards push through the crowd. "Don't you see? He's Giaro's son!"

Kaji grits his teeth.

"He's trying to scam you all, like his father did." There's plenty Kaji wants to say to this damn tax leech. Not now. Hold it in.

"Ah! He's right," says the elder. "That bastard Giaro cost me half my sheep back in the day."

"Yeah, he was a dirty con man," adds a woman, who then glances at Kaji. "You're just trying to get us to leave our things so you can steal them while we're gone."

"No! I'm nothing like my father!" Kaji yells, his words escaping louder than intended.

"Talking's easy. What about all the times you've attacked us?" That nerve-wracking voice can only belong to that douchebag Raba. "My nose still aches from your last punch."

"You asshole!" Kaji shouts. "I'd punch you again if I had the time! But right now we need to—"

"See!?" the guard interrupts. "When things don't go his way, his first response is violence."

"Yeah! Go away, you stupid scammer!" says another citizen.

"Go away!" Raba yells.

"Go away! Go away!" chant the rest of these infuriating, sheep-minded idiots.

"Fine!" Kaji stomps the ground. "Fuck you too! You can just die for all I—!" Something flies from behind Kaji, striking one of the guards. He collapses into a puddle of blood. For a moment that feels like an eternity, everything goes silent.

Kaji turns around and sees the invaders lined up less than fifty feet away. The first one raises his arm. Kaji doesn't know what the gesture means, but his instincts scream for cover. Almost immediately, a hail of projectiles rains down, piercing the crowd, and screams fill the air.

More guards rush in, but none get close to the invaders before they're struck down—pierced by flying pebbles, sliced by streams of water, or jolted by bolts of lightning.

Kaji's insides burn with rage more than ever before, and he feels like screaming at the top of his lungs. Even if these idiots ignored his warnings, even if he cursed them in the heat of the moment, this is far worse than they deserve.

He runs into one of the houses to hide. He's made his choice.

The moment one of the soldiers steps inside, likely to loot whatever he can, Kaji slams a chair over his head. Amid the screams and chaos, none of his companions seem to notice. Kaji steals the soldier's weapon, though he has no idea how to use it.

Soon, Kaji hears a familiar scream. He looks outside and sees Raba being beaten by one of the enemies. His grandmother lies beside him, blood soaking her lifeless face. Raba tries to rise and fight back, but he's thrown down again. With a grin, the soldier points his weapon at Raba and hovers his finger over one of the contraptions.

A shot rings out—not from the soldier's weapon, but from Kaji's. It misses the man's head, but when he turns to look at Kaji and their gazes lock, a second shot follows, piercing the soldier's eye.

Kaji's hands are shaking. Raba looks at him, then grabs the weapon from the corpse and runs. Once he's sure no one else has noticed him, Kaji retreats back into the house.

Most of the soldiers are marching into the city, but the first and second are still by the forest, seemingly in discussion. Kaji feels the rage stir within him again. Shut it down and focus on your goal.

He knows it's foolish—and that it might cost him his life—but he can't bring himself to run, at least not yet.